Equity MFs see inflows of Rs 6,462 cr in February

Domestic investors continue to invest despite the markets climbing to record levels

Domestic investors continued to invest in equity mutual funds (MFs) in February despite the markets climbing to record levels. The equity schemes, including the tax-saving equity linked saving schemes (ELSS), saw net inflows of Rs 6,462 crore last month.

The net investment tally in equity MFs has surpassed Rs 62,000 crore since April 2016. The investments have helped fund managers invest Rs 52,400 crore into stocks in the first 11 months of the financial year.

Industry players, however, say there has been moderation in lump-sum investments by new investors, and incremental investments by existing investors have slowed. Gross redemptions in the equity segment stood at Rs 14,400 crore last month, indicating that a large number of investors opted for either a part of investments or exited their investments altogether.

Flows through systematic investment plan (SIP) continued to provide much relief to the sector.

Net inflows across all the category of funds stood at Rs 30,273 crore in February. Income and money market schemes led the flows with a combined inflow of nearly Rs 19,000 crore.

Gold exchange-traded-funds and gilt schemes continued to see outflows.

Balanced funds, which tend to allocate funds into debt as well as equity, witnessed encouraging inflows at Rs 4,562 crore. Foreign funds saw inflows of Rs 930 crore.

The total asset under management (AUM) as on February-end rose to Rs 17.89 lakh crore, up three per cent from Rs 17.37 lakh crore in January. The AUM for the equity segment stood at Rs 5.2 lakh crore.